


maybe it should be alarming, just how quickly we fell

by itsmylifekay



Series: Fire Alarm [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-25
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2018-02-22 14:09:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2510525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmylifekay/pseuds/itsmylifekay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The night after the fire alarm fiasco, Bucky and Steve go out for that promised breakfast.</p>
            </blockquote>





	maybe it should be alarming, just how quickly we fell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [debwalsh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/debwalsh/gifts).



> Thanks to debwalsh for the idea and motivation~

 

Six thirty in the morning and _Reveille_ is spilling out of Steve’s cell phone, the sound of military staccato prying his eyelids open after only about an hour of being shut (it’s truly amazing how difficult it is to go to bed after kissing your neighbor). He lets out a groan and scoots his way to the edge of his mattress, dangling his legs into empty space before stepping down onto the top of his school-supplied bookshelf/ladder and maneuvering his way to the floor. The sky is a lazy grey and the entire campus is still sleeping, Steve the only one in the halls as he shuffles his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth, staring at himself in the mirror and wondering if the night before had even happened at all.

He spits in the sink. “Don’t be an idiot, Rogers.” He mutters, capping his toothbrush and making his way back out into the hall, sparing a single glance at Bucky’s closed door before slipping through his own. Because even if Bucky doesn’t end up joining him for breakfast, he still has books to pack and clothes to put on, contacts to coax into his eyes...

And twenty minutes later he’s standing in his khakis and light blue button-up, hair brushed and backpack slung over one shoulder, having just knocked on Bucky’s door. Three strong raps in a row, followed by a thud from the other side.

Then the door is swinging open and Bucky is on the other side, one shoe on and shirt caught around his biceps.

Steve lifts an eyebrow at the sight. “Did I wake you up?”

“No, no.” Bucky mutters, pulling the shirt on over his head. “I was up at 6:50, takes me just a second to get dressed.” He wrestles his other shoe on then grabs a wallet from his desk, shoving it in his back pocket before joining Steve at the door. “See?” he says, holding up his arms and doing a little spin for inspection. “Ready to go.”

“Right…” Steve says, flicking his eyes from Bucky’s dark jeans to his faded grey henley. He adjusts the backpack on his shoulder. “Off we go then.”

Locking the door behind himself, Bucky falls into step beside Steve as they make their way down the hall, chewing on his lip and holding open the door to the stairwell when they reach it. Their feet echo against the concrete and metal and Steve hides a yawn in his elbow, shaking his head a bit to try and wake up. Apparently the fire drill took more out of him then he’d thought. (That, and he’s secretly ninety and needs his full eight hours of sleep to function.) But there’s only one more flight to go and Steve nearly ends up somersaulting his way down it when Bucky suddenly goes, “So this is a date, right?”

And Steve has to stop. Comes to a complete halt in the middle of the staircase and just looks at Bucky, then climbs up a few steps so they can be at eye level for Steve to stare at him more effectively as he says. “Are you serious?”

Bucky shrugs. “Figure it’s better to check now than later.”

“You-” Steve starts, then cuts himself off, just shaking his head instead. Because it’s way too early to be dealing with these kinds of things. “We kissed and held hands, and then you asked me out for breakfast. I’m pretty sure that makes this a date.”

“Awesome,” Bucky grins. “So I wasn’t just dreaming all that up.”

Steve rolls his eyes, then grumbles a snarky ‘ _smooth’_ under his breath before starting back down the stairs to hide the blush creeping across his face.

Bucky follows and before long they’re reaching the bottom of the stairs and pushing out into the hazy morning. It’s cold and Steve probably should’ve grabbed a jacket, but it’s supposed to warm up later, so for now he just lets out a shiver and starts walking faster towards the food court, determined to make it there before his nose starts to run. But Bucky stops him, puts a hand on his arm to slow him down then wraps an arm around his shoulder, pulls him tight against his side. “This okay?” He asks, smiling down at Steve with an adorable tilt to his head.

“Yeah,” Steve says. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

With the layers of clothes between them, Bucky isn’t as immediately warm as the night before, but after a few moments Steve can feel Bucky’s heat trickling into his body’s own meager reserves. And...this is definitely a good alternative for a jacket. Steve doesn’t even have to worry about getting Bucky dry-cleaned.

Beside him, Bucky lets out a loud yawn. “Don’t know how you do this every morning, Steve. No one should be awake this early.”

“Well, those of us with eight am classes are up this early. And people who work the food courts for people with eight am classes.” He shrugs his shoulders slightly, so as not to jar Bucky’s arm from its place. “Just have to go to bed earlier, is all.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Bucky grumbles. “I’d rather stay up late to study then get up early. My brain doesn’t work until after ten.”

Steve hums at that, choosing not to answer and instead pulling open the cafeteria doors, ushering Bucky through before going in himself. The smell of bacon and eggs greets them and they join the scattering of students shuffling their way through the open space, Bucky veering off towards the fresh-made plates while Steve saunters over to the cereal section. His shoulders feel a little empty, a little cold, as he waits in line to pay and finds a table, but before long Bucky is flopping down across from him and nudging one of Steve’s feet with his own, ankles crossed beneath the table. Intimate without being overt.

“Hey,” Bucky grins, smile on his lips and a light in his eyes that Steve recognizes from his own reflection. Everything is so crazy, so out of the blue, that neither of them really know what to make of it. But somehow, everything is working out better than he could’ve ever imagined.

“Hey,” Steve says back, pulling back the seal on one of his cereal packets before reaching for the other. “I would’ve waited, but they hate when you stand in front of the registers. I figured you wouldn't mind if I just got us a table.”

“Course not,” Bucky says. He starts poking at his food with his fork, pushing it around his plate without actually picking anything up, then he glances up at Steve. “I saw you walk out here, anyway. Didn’t lose you for a second.” He winks teasingly like he had the night before then ducks back down to work on his plate, apparently determined to separate all of the eggs from the bacon and the bacon from the fruit and the fruit from the waffle.

When he catches Steve watching him, he just grins sheepishly and says, “I don’t like my food to touch. There’s someone who works here when I usually get up who keeps ‘em separate for me, but I didn’t want to bother a new person…”

He trails off and Steve knocks their calves together, reassuring smile on his face. “Well, I guess that makes it slightly less weird for me to do this…” He grabs his packet of cheerios and dumps it into his frosted flakes container, then shakes it around to get it all mixed up. Bucky’s eyebrows are rising already, but they go to nearly his hairline when Steve pours his chocolate soy milk over the top. “Looks like we both have our weird breakfast rituals.”

Bucky gives Steve a crooked smile. “Yeah, but yours is just really cute.” He laughs when Steve kicks him lightly under the table. “What? It’s true! You got this real concentrated look on your face, like you couldn’t mess up the process...Adorable as hell, Steve.”

“I’m not adorable,” Steve mutters, glaring up at Bucky before looking down to where Bucky has finally successfully organized his plate. Besides, if anyone’s morning ritual is ‘cute’, it’s Bucky’s. Because only he would be charming enough to get a worker to make his breakfast special for him. But he figures pointing that out will just get them into an argument that they really don’t have time for at the moment. So he decides to save it for another day (he’s counting on there being another day, on there being _many_ other days). “You said you didn’t have class until eleven?”

“Yeah,” Bucky nods, “I was lucky, got my schedule worked out so I don’t have classes before then. It means I have a couple evening classes, but I figure it’s an even trade. What about you? Do you get back early since you’re out first thing?”

Steve shakes his head ruefully. “No, unfortunately not. I’m out basically all day everyday, that’s why I’m hardly ever around the dorm.” He shrugs and takes another bite of his cereal. “But I’ll figure something out, do some studying in the lounge of something...if you’d be interested, that is.”

“Of course,” Bucky frowns. “But what in the world are you doing that you’re so busy? Double majoring or something?”

“Yeah, art and pre-med, plus I work. So, really not a lot of free time.”

“Shit, yeah.” Bucky says, “That’s crazy. I’ve heard horror stories about the pre-med track without all the other stuff you’ve got going on, I can only imagine how much you’ve got to be running around.”

“Yeah, but it’s worth it,” Steve pushes at the empty cereal carton then flips it on its side. “I love my classes and work isn’t too bad. But, what about you? What’s your major?”

“Engineering. I want to be the guy who helps bring the future. All the shiny flying cars and solar-powered everything, I want to be right there elbow deep in the thick of it.” He clicks his fork excitedly against his plate, leaning forward as he speaks. “It’s going to be _amazing,_ absolutely amazing.”

“That’s awesome, Buck.” Steve grins, then pauses when he notices the weird look that comes over Bucky’s face. “What?”

“You…” Bucky clears his throat. “Buck?”

It takes Steve a moment to get it, but then he blushes. “Sorry, it just came out.”

“I love it,” Bucky traps Steve’s foot between his own beneath the table. “In fact, you should say it again.”

“No,” Steve says, flustered and trying to focus on finishing his cereal. “And stop looking at me like that, eat your food!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bucky says, but he’s still smiling, eyes crinkled and face warm as he goes back to eating, sneaking peeks at Steve when he thinks Steve isn’t looking.

Steve lets him think he’s getting away with it.

(After all, he’s stealing glances of his own.)

A few minutes later, they’re both done and standing up from the table, falling into step as they go from the trashcans to the door and back out into the morning sun. It’s already 7:30 and Steve’s not going to have any time to study before his first class.

“So,” Bucky says, rocking back on his heels as they stare at each other in front of the cafeteria doors. “You’re going to class, then?”

“Yeah, and you’re going back to bed?”

“Maybe…” Bucky hedges, then he tugs on the sleeves of his henley, pulls them over his knuckles and smiles at Steve like he’s not sure if he’s pushing his luck. “Or maybe I could walk you to class?”

Steve rolls his eyes. “As if that’s even a question.” Bucky beams and Steve tries to stop the idiotic grin threatening to break across his own face, turning away and saying, “It’s a free country, I can’t tell you where to walk” instead.

Bucky’s bark of laughter is what pushes Steve over the edge, smile on his lips when Bucky slips up beside him, wraps tentative fingers around Steve’s palm before readjusting and twining their hands together. A jolt of warmth rockets up Steve’s spine and settles in his veins like the scatter of fireworks, tiny embers making his skin tingle and his hand flex in Bucky’s grip.

The sun is up, but there’s a veil of clouds drifting lazily in the sky, making everything appear sleepy and quiet, like low fog on a summer morning. They don’t really talk much on the walk there, just soak in the muted silence of campus and the way their hands are a point of warmth amidst the grey. (Steve spends most of it wondering if it’s truly possible for two people to just _work_ the way they do.) And when they finally reach Steve’s building, the fifteen minute walk there seems more like seconds, each moment stretched out and full but still somehow not enough.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later then?” Steve asks, loosening his grip on Bucky’s hand so their fingers are just loosely held together, gaps between the knuckles, Bucky’s callouses against Steve’s pale skin.

“Yeah,” Bucky mumbles, “Yeah, definitely. But, um...first…” he leans down to press a kiss to Steve’s lips, nearly pushing Steve back with the force of it if it weren’t for the hand at the back of his head. But then it gentles, turns into something sweet and wistful before he pulls away and leaves Steve standing dumbstruck on the brick walkway, staring up at Bucky with his mouth still slightly parted.

Bucky grins and scratches the back of his neck. “Been thinking of that since we said goodnight.” he admits.

And it’s all just too much, too perfect. Steve starts to laugh, open and bright and _happy._ So happy, for the first time in a long time. And it’s all because of this amazing guy standing in front of him, who he’s met only the night before. The same guy who’s staring at him like he’s both fondly amused and has missed out on a joke.

“What?” Bucky asks, crinkle between his brow. “What’s so funny?”

Steve shakes his head. “Nothing. Nothing’s funny. I’m just-- I’m happy.” He shakes his head with small smile curving his lips. “And as much as it might’ve sucked for you, I’m glad you ended up outside in your boxers last night.”

A gust of wind plucks leaves from the path, scatters them around their feet before sending them drifting towards the grass.

“Yeah,” Bucky says, face soft and voice even softer. “Yeah, me too.”

The watch on his wrist says 7:55 and he’s got to get up three flights of stairs, but he steps close to Bucky anyway, gets up on his toes to press their mouths together one last time. One of his hands is holding onto the loose fabric at the front of Bucky’s shirt, stretching out the cotton as Bucky makes a gentle noise against his lips. “See you later, Buck.”

“See you later, Steve,” Bucky echoes, releasing Steve’s fingers and taking a step back. His shoulders are hunched as he stands on the walkway, a lone silhouette against a sleepy fall morning.

It’s an image Steve hates to turn away from, and one that stays with him through his first class, and the second...at the edge of his thoughts until he trudges through the residence hall door a little after ten and sees a note on his door. A light green post-it with black ink on the front.

_So, breakfast?_

_-Buck  ;)_

 

 


End file.
